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Jim Lloyd
James George Lloyd (born 1 May 1919), generally known as Jim Lloyd, is a senior Labour politician and Member of Parliament for Ebbw Vale. He has been a Cabinet minister and a leading figure in the trade union movement, and is regarded as being on the left of the party. Early life Jim Lloyd was born in Ebbw Vale, Gwent in 1919, to a mining family of limited means. He was the second of six children. As the eldest son, he was expected to work in the mines at an early age, and he duly left Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School in 1933 at the age of fourteen. Lloyd has described his support for socialism as being inspired by "the denial of equality in areas like education to prop up an economy based on the child labour of the working-classes". Lloyd began work with his father at the Brynmawr pit near their home. At Brynmawr, the younger Lloyd began his involvement in unionism and politics. He joined the South Wales Miners' Federation in 1933. The trade union offered many opportunities to the young miner, and it was through the SWMF that Lloyd made the acquaintance of local Labour politicians, including Ebbw Vale MP Nye Bevan. Lloyd joined the Labour Party in 1935 and became active in the Ebbw Vale Constituency Labour Party (CLP). He campaigned for Bevan as well as candidates for Monmouthshire County Council. Upon the declaration of war on Germany in 1939, Lloyd was called up to the Army. He served as a regular private in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry regiment for the duration of the Second World War. Lloyd participated in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 as well as the Normandy landings of D-Day in 1944. He returned to Britain after victory in Europe and married Catherine Davies in November, with whom he has had three children. National Union of Mineworkers Lloyd became active in the newly-organised National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) when he returned to work at the Ebbw Vale mine in 1945. He worked as a local NUM organiser from 1948 to restore trade unionism in South Wales after demobilisation. His key role in NUM organisation led to his election as South Wales Area representative in 1953 to the NUM national governing body. The 1950s marked the beginning of significant decline in British industry, with the crumbling of empire serving as a preface to difficult economic conditions. In this context, Lloyd sought to provide strong leadership to the movement, and was elected General Secretary of the National Union of Miners in 1955. He served a three-year term during a period which was marked by relative industrial calm compared to the storms that were to follow. Lloyd's leadership role in the NUM gave him a high profile within the broader trade union movement, as well as the Labour Party. Throughout this period, he retained close links with Nye Bevan in particular, who was by then Treasurer of the Labour Party and (unknown to either man) in the final years of his life. Bevan encouraged Lloyd to run for Parliament, and in 1958 Lloyd was selected for the seat of Monmouth, held by Peter Thorneycroft, the Conservative MP and former Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Conservative had resigned from the Cabinet and was perceived to be quite vulnerable to a challenge from the Labour candidate. Thorneycroft unexpectedly retained support and held the seat. Lloyd was left without either a place in Parliament or a position in the NUM, as his candidacy required his resignation from the office of General Secretary. He described this as "the lowest point in my career. Certainly I was better-off than I had been as a young collier, but I had tasted the opportunity and the power to change this country, and then thought I would never have them again". Upon Nye Bevan's diagnosis with terminal illness, preparations were quietly made to have his fellow left-winger Lloyd selected for his safe seat of Ebbw Vale at the next election. When Bevan died in 1960, Lloyd was selected to contest the by-election and won handily. In Parliament Jim Lloyd entered Parliament in the middle of Harold Macmillan's second term. He worked with Frederick Lee on a coal strategy for the 1964 election, which Labour won. Lloyd was subsequently named Minister of State for Coal, a position he retained after the 1966 election. During this time, he worked closely with both Lee and Peter Redmond, his successor as Minister for Power. With the 1968 reshuffle came promotion for Lloyd: Redmond moved to Industry and his Minister for State was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Power. Lloyd remained in the Cabinet until Labour's defeat in the 1970 election. During the Heath government that followed, he was Shadow Secretary of State for Employment. Lloyd is a member of parliamentary groupings including the Tribune Group of left-wing Labour MPs and the Anti-Apartheid Movement. He resigned from Labour Friends of Israel after the Six-Day War. Personal life Lloyd is a Methodist and takes an interest in the history of the church. His other historical passion is mining, and he has reportedly been working on a book on the subject for some time. Lloyd's sporting passion is horse racing.